Name: High Wind in Oregon, February 7, 2002
Start: 2002-02-07T16:15
End: 2002-02-07T19:00
Location: Oregon

The toll

Deaths: 0
Injuries: 4
Property damage: $6.0 million
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 1

Deaths and injuries are direct and indirect together, as the offices filed them. Damage is property and crops in the dollars of the year, not adjusted for inflation, and only where an office estimated it.

What happened

The episode as NWS PQR wrote it up.

A rapidly developing low pressure system moved into the Southern Willamette Valley from the South Oregon Coast, generating the strongest winds in 40 years in parts of Linn and eastern Lane counties. Trees downed by the 50 to 70 mph wind gusts temporarily closed roads, damaged homes, cars, and businesses, and knocked out power to thousands of residents. In Eugene alone 100 trees, some three feet in diameter and 80 to 100 feet tall, were uprooted. At the University of Oregon four automobiles were crushed by falling trees. Two semi-trucks were blown over on Highway 20. The University of Oregon estimated damage at $60,000 ($40,000 to replace trees, $20,000 to repair building damage). Power losses include: Pacific Power 56,000 customers, Emerald People's Utility District 17,000 customers, Eugene Water and Electric Board 18,000 customers, Lane Electric 2300 customers and Springfield Utility Board 10,000 to 12,000 customers. Consumer Power suffered $1.2 million in losses, and Eugene Water and Electric Board $1.5 million. In Lane County one mobile home and two homes were destroyed, ten sustained major damage and 18 minor damage. In Linn County 91 homes and businesses were destroyed or damaged (31 had major damage another 15 were destroyed or uninhabitable). The Linn County Assessor put the market value at $4.5 million. Linn County Parks estimated damage at $100,000. In summary, Linn and Lane County suffered at least $4.5 and possibly $6 million in uninsured losses to public facilities, mostly utilities. The Oregon State Emergency Management Office has requested federal assistance in the amount of $3.8 million for Lane County and $1.3 million for Linn County. Four injuries were reported, one of which was considered serious: three in cars crushed by falling trees, the other by a falling branch. NO fatalities were reported.

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before the first event, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.

NWS Portland, OR wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Feb 7, 3:41 PM PST, 34 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Feb 7, 3:41 PM PST, 34 minutes before

NORTHWEST OREGON AND SOUTHWEST WASHINGTON FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PORTLAND OR
230 PM PST THU FEB 7 2002

.SYNOPSIS...LOW PRESSURE SYSTEM ALONG THE SOUTH OREGON COAST THIS
AFTERNOON WILL MOVE RAPIDLY INLAND.  WINDS WILL INCREASE IN THE SOUTH
AS THE LOW MOVES INLAND...THEN DECREASE LATER TONIGHT. RAIN WILL TURN
TO SHOWERS AS THE LOW MOVES INLAND. THE SNOW LEVEL WILL CONTINUE TO
FALL TONIGHT.  HIGH PRESSURE WILL BEGIN TO BUILD IN FRIDAY NIGHT
BRINGING DRY WEATHER TO MOST OF NORTHWEST OREGON OVER THE WEEKEND.

.DISCUSSION...
.SHORT TERM...THE SHORTWAVE ALONG THE OREGON COAST IS MUCH MORE
DEVELOPED THAN ANY OF THE MORNING MODELS INDICATED. THE NEWPORT AND
EUREKA PROFILIERS FROM PACJET PROJECT WERE VERY USEFUL IN DIAGNOSING
THE STRENGTH OF THE LOW LEVEL GET AHEAD OF THE FRONT AND THE STRENGTH
OF THE SURFACE LOW. EXPECT THE LOW TO MOVE RAPIDLY NORTHEAST AND
PRESSURE RISES BEHIND THE LOW WILL LIKELY RESULT IN VERY WINDY
CONDITIONS IN THE SOUTHERN ZONES THIS EVENING. TROUGH WILL MOVE
THROUGH WITH SHOWERS TOMORROW IN THE COLD AIR.

.LONG TERM...
THE DEVELOPING LOW NEAR 35N 160W IS MUCH DEEPER THAN AVN OR ANY MODEL
FORECAST.  ALSO QUICKSCAT WINDS FROM PACJET PROJECT SHOW LOW POSITION
WELL ALONG WITH 70+ KT SURFACE WINDS. IT IS ALSO ABOUT 2 DEG FARTHER
W THAN MODELS AND MODLES HAVE NO CHANCE IN GETTING A GOOD
INITIALIZATION OF THIS SYSTEM. IT WILL LIKLEY TRACK WELL WEST OF
FORECAST POSITION AND EXPECT RIDGE TO BUILD OVER FORECAST AREA SAT
AND SUN. BACKING OFF ON RAIN FOR THE WEEKEND. ALL THE EXTENDED MODEL
FORECASTS ARE LIKELY WRONG IN LIGHT OF THIS DEVELOPMENT. WILL
INDICATE A CHANCE OF RAIN ON DAYS 6 AND 7 TRENDING TOWARD
CLIMATOLOGY.
 SCHNEIDER
AST 985223 PDX 864111 SLE 963111 EUG 963111

.PQR...SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY SOUTH COASTAL WATERS.
       HEAVY SURF ADVISORY TODAY.
       SNOW ADVISORY CASCADES NORTH OF LANE COUNTY LINE.
       WINTER STORM WARNING TONIGHT LANE COUNTY CASCADES.4@

Event by event

1 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.

High Wind, Southern Willamette Valley

When: February 7, 4:15 PM PST to 7:00 PM PST
Where: Southern Willamette Valley forecast zone
Measured: 61 kt (70 mph)
Injuries: 4 direct, 0 indirect
Property damage: $6.0 million
Reported by: EMERGENCY MANAGER

What these are

High Wind: Sustained non-thunderstorm winds of 40 mph or more for an hour, or gusts of 58 mph or more.

After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.

The same day elsewhere

More

Every storm in Oregon in 2002 Every state in 2002 This day in weather history Warnings in Oregon, February 2002

Sources

NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database, compiled from the National Weather Service’s monthly Storm Data. Complete through 2026-06; NCEI adds each month about 75 days after it ends and revises past years a few times a year. Rebuilt 2026-09-24. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 5283243.